Thanks for all the suggestions and things to look at. I'm thinking that I'm
over-reacting to a normal condition.

I am running an 87 deg t-stat. The coolant tower was cracked and rather
than wait for catastrophic failure, it has been repalced. Yes, it's I have
a temp gun, not heat gun (although I have both). The heater performance
appears to be fine. I've got a siezed front blower fan (not the rad fan),
but I can open the vents and put the heater control on heat and get plenty
of heat blowing through the dash vents while driving.

I've got the rear seat valve open. I usually don't close it all the way
during the summer so as to keep coolant flowing. I don't find it impacts
the interior temp much at all. As far as the bypass valve, I'll have to
check on it's position. I'm not sure.

I think the next step is to take some heat measurements with the temp gun
at various times and locations to see what does and doesn't change. I need
to get the manual on-off switch for the rad fan back to being controlled by
a temp switch.

We'll see how things go when I end up in stop and go traffic in the summer
and its 95 degrees out.

Gregg

On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 2:13 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <
scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:

> Hi,
> I don' see that you have a problem at all,
> unless you think just the low side of the LED is a bit on the cool side,
> which it is for winter...but that's not a 'real problem.'
>   Sounds to me like it has an 80 C t-stat installed, which is where it
> would run on the temp gauge with that stat installed.
>
> other thoughts..
> no mention of the cleverly hidden Coolant Distribution Tower ...made of
> plastic, and known to disintegrate eventually.
>
> a heat gun is a gun you heat things with..
> a Temp Gun is something you read temps with ..
> if you wondering if there's a temperature running issue ..
> start shooting things ...like the t-stat housing etc.
>
> I usually put some guard ...like metal flexible heated-air hose, or
> something similar, over that hose that runs across the top of the bell
> housing/torque converter area.  Heat and oil fumes from the torque
> converter area blast right on that hose..
> weakening it.  Either  a cover...
> or convert to metal piple ( syncro vans have the perfect 'double pipe'
> there....makes the perfect 'over bell housing' pipe for you application.
>
> running non-VW coolant in it for years won't hurt things anymore than
> running any coolant mixture, regardless of how special it is, for a long
> time without changing.
>  I only rarely bother to use anything other than conventional green
> coolant in all the vanagons I work on . I do however, run Water Wetter in
> the summer, and I have been putting in a half cup or so water soluble
> machinist's cutting oil as a water pump lube and rust inhibitor ...been
> doing that for about 2 decades on hundreds of cars and vanagons. It flat
> works.
>   also interesting ..
> if you read what it says on the side of the bottle of Water Wetter (there
> are other similar products besides Redline's ) ..
> an a-frz/water mixture of less than 50/50 cools better than 50/50 .
>
> Radiator ..the only failure mode I have seen on these radiators ever is
> ..eventually they just don't remove heat that well.
> If the Rad is original ..it's due.
>
> Got your rear heater valve on some ?  I recomend keeping that valve at
> least half way open at all times..
> if it's kept shut ..........eventually the old coolant sitting in the rear
> heater core causes it to leak from corrosion.
> Some vanagon owners don't even know that valve is there.
> first time I ever saw one ..I was surprised at how 'unfinished' by VW that
> seems ....a hidden hand-operated valve under the back seat.
>
> About running temp in general..
> warmer is better.
> Keeping up 'a good fight' to keep temps below the LED the gauge is
> totally  unnecessary.
> You want it running right on the LED ...even to the right some,
> esspecially in winter.
>
> you have not mentioned heater performance ..
> checking that out is always part of a good overall cooling system
> check-out.
> I do like the rad fan controlled by the stock temp switch ..
> if the van can sit, engine idling....
> temp on the guage where it belongs,
> rad fan cycling off and on , and off and on ...
> if it can do that consistently ..
> it's a good sign that everything is working as it should.
>
> it's not likely that the water pump is not circulating coolant like it
> should.
> Since you changed your main pipes..
> I sure hope you got the coolant going in the right direction through the
> Rad...
> 'down and out' is how you remember which hose and pipe goes to which
> connection.
> Pretty important that it goes through the radiator in the correct
> direction !
>
> water pumps last about 70K miles on vanagons like yours.
> Regarding things like 'which coolant' ..
> I am very big on saying ..'it's not the parts, it's the workmanship.'
> Quality of materials used matters yes..
> but not nearly as much as thorough good workmanship matters.
> That's where the mistakes are usually made ..in how the work is done, not
> what parts or materials are used.
>
> have fun !
> Scott
> www.turbovans.com
>
>
>
> On 2/24/2012 9:26 AM, Gregg Carlen wrote:
>
> Hey folks,
>
> After my self-induced challenges with my engine (90 Westy automatic in the
> DC area, ~70 deg F outside), I finally have Blueberry back and running. So,
> after having heads rebuilt and reinstalled (correctly this time), new
> gaskets/seals all around worked on areas, new SS long coolant pipes,
> various coolant hoses, thermostat housing and thermostat and pink VW
> coolant (bled), I've got a strange symptom that I had actually noticed
> before the head leak problem started. While the engine was being worked on,
> I took the opportunity to take care of several coolant related issues as
> well (see below).
>
> The issue that I observe is an unexpected rise in temp on the engine temp
> guage. Upon start-up, everything seems to increase in temp as exected.
> After reaching what I believe is operating temp, the needle sits just at
> the low side of the LED. It stays there as long as I'm driving.
>
> Once I stop for a few minutes (~3-5), like in typcial DC traffic, the
> needle will rise to just above the top of the LED. Once I get driving again
> (above about 20mpg and about 2,500 -3,000 rpm, she'll cool down to the
> middle or low end of the LED.
>
> Another fact: the PO replaced the fan with a non-Vanagon fan and a
> hard-wire on-off switch. I did my observations with the fan manually turned
> on all the time (e.g. during stop and go traffic when the temp rises, the
> fan is runnning). Also, the PO ran regular non-VW coolant in the van for
> years on end.
>
> Given almost all the cooling system has been replaced in the past year, the
> only components I see that were in the van before I got it is the radiator,
> upper/lower/rear over-transmission coolant hoses and water pump (an older
> dead one was in a box in the van, so I assume the one in the engine is not
> originall and had been replaced sometime in the past, but unknown when).
>
> I noticed when stopped and the temp rises, by increasing the RPMs for 2-4
> minutes, the temp would drop.
>
> My first thought is a failing water pump (no indication of leaks from it
> and the belt is new and properly tightened).
>
> Barring a water pump, the radiator is the only other thought I have. Anyway
> to prove or disprove these two components? Other things to look at? I have
> a heat gun, but haven't taken any measurements yet.
>
> Gregg
> 90 Westy (Blueberry).
>
>
>